Welcome! Sky Diary’s new home is here on my official site, ChrisKridler.com (the main menu is above in case you’re looking for the Chris Kridler home page, author services, books and more). I started chasing storms in 1997 and soon after that developed a website, first on America Online and then on the web. After building Sky Diary for more than twenty years in HTML, it became a bit creaky. I’m capturing the best of SkyDiary.com and transferring it to this site for a more reader-friendly experience. See the latest chase reports here on the blog and in the new index of storm chasing reports from recent years (continually updated as I add more of the archives). Stay tuned for updates.
Here we are photographing a spectacular low-precipitation supercell with mammatus over Earth, Texas, on May 16, 2021.
Cow is our loyal companion on the road.
Alethea Kontis and I completed our storm chase in Tornado Alley and hope to find lightning storms in Florida this summer. I’m slowly updating the blog with the reports (with all the driving, there’s not a lot of time to sit at the computer). You can see all the storm chasing posts from this and previous years in the blog. You can read about our adventures here and on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube (please subscribe!).
NOW ONLINE AND UPDATED: KIDSTORM! These pages are chock-full of facts about tornadoes, lightning, hurricanes and storm chasing – interesting information for kids and grown-ups, too. Go!
The first Cape Canaveral Lighthouse began operation in 1849. The cast-iron version that replaced it began working in 1868. It was moved over a mile inland in the 1890s to keep it safe from erosion. The original Fresnel lens has been removed because launches were literally shaking the glass pieces out of their framework, and the light no longer rotates — or it didn’t …
It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I’ve been working on editing books and designing book covers. I launched my first collection at the Stolen Butter Gallery. I went on a road trip. And I hauled my camera here and there to shoot storms and space launches. There were highlights – for instance, a violent storm on August 26 that produced a stunning shelf …
Announcement! Here’s the short version: I’m thrilled to be among the debut artists in a brand-new online gallery, Stolen Butter, a labor of love created by my talented friend and photographer Rachael Thompson and her husband, Victor, in California. Need exclusive art for your walls? Get 10% off any purchases made by Aug. 31, 2022. Use code: FAM10 at StolenButter.com. The long story: …
August 1 offered one of those local chases that would have been better if I’d been about an hour’s drive to my west. But we’d just had dinner in Cocoa Beach and watched the storms going up as twilight deepened into night, and I had a feeling if I attempted the drive, I’d never get into position. So I opted for a wide view …
I’ll admit it: I’m a lazy Florida chaser. Here’s the thing about Florida storms — most garden-variety Florida storms (not the rare supercells we get, mostly in winter and early spring) pop up and die within thirty minutes. FOR REAL. In the Plains, if you see a storm a hundred miles away, it might actually still be going by the time you get there. …
What a marvelous night of magical sights! The evening of July 14 started with a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, where our little band watched the twilight show. Dawn and twilight launches are the best chance to see the “jellyfish” as the sun lights up the dramatic cloud features created by the rocket’s journey. After the launch, …
I believe I am not the only one: Photographers spend a lot of time thinking about what they could’ve done better. Storm chasing is much the same way. If I had access to a time machine, there are several tornado events I’d like to revisit, reshoot and re-experience. Of course, it helps when you know where things will happen and when. Last night, or …
